


Spring Bouquet

by Aeris_Blue



Series: Seasons of Grillster [3]
Category: Undertale
Genre: Concerns, Dating, M/M, communication is important, surprise
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-14
Updated: 2019-04-14
Packaged: 2020-01-13 06:46:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,583
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18463655
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aeris_Blue/pseuds/Aeris_Blue
Summary: Gaster seems to be getting better by the day at dealing with all sorts of stimulus. Finally, he gets registered and Grillby is more than excited to finally show the monster the town. However, something strange has been happening to the skeleton’s voice.





	Spring Bouquet

**Author's Note:**

> I feel like I’ve been holding onto this one for forever! Normally I write them up and then post in the same week but this one had a very specific reason to wait until the 14th. Hope you enjoy!

“Grillby it’s fine-” Gaster started but whatever he said next was lost behind a wall of mechanical sounds Grillby couldn’t quite identify but did his best to pretend he understood. 

Gaster was finally registered which meant they could explore the city but, where Grillby was positively brimming with date ideas- the farmer’s market, the museum, just a normal movie date- his partner hardly seemed to care. The entire city had just opened up to him and he’d spent the entire ride over staring vacantly at the piece of plastic containing his information. Grillby had to admit he wasn’t exactly thrilled when he received his registration card but he’d been labeled a fire hazard the first time.

He just wished his partner could see just how much better he’d gotten.

Grillby’s flames brightened as his old pick up truck pulled into a parking space, “just one stop.” Gaster started to reach for his door handle but Grillby signed quickly for him to wait. The monster looked at him curiously but released the lever as Grillby tried his best not to rush around the truck to open the door for him.

The skeleton chuckled as he pressed his fingertips against his sternum but as his laughter slipped into a sly remark it remained equally wordless.

Grillby’s toes curled inside of his shoes, it had been happening increasingly the last few weeks. Originally it was just the occasional hiccup where a vowel sound would slide into some strange animatronic noise but it was consuming more and more of the monster’s words. He’d thought it would pass eventually but something about it resonated in his soul as painstakingly familiar.

The flame chuckled playing along as best as he could, “what can I say? I’m old fashioned.” Gaster did his best to hide his thoughts behind an indifferent smirk but Grillby caught the smile in his sockets.

“And where have you taken me my old fashioned gentleman?” Gaster looped his arm around Grillby’s as they strolled up to the old brick building.

“Close your eyes,” Grillby encouraged. The skeleton gave him a curious expression before he shut his left socket all the way and his right as best as he could.

Grillby opened the door careful not to let Gaster get caught in the heavy shutting swing of them before he positioned him in the entryway of the little shop. “Okay, you can open them,” Grillby whispered directly against the side of Gaster’s skull encouraging his eye light to ignite in a sheepish expression.

Gaster looked first to Grillby then out into the aisles upon aisles of books. The store was lit in a relaxing light complimented by the squares of sunlight that laid warm against the floor. Coffee could be heard brewing in the back corner of the store the scent of which mingled with that of old pages. Much more impressive though was the pulse of excited magic that spiraled into the air like a mid morning mist as the skeleton’s expression defaulted.

He thought for certain the monster was going to go straight for the nearest row of books but he paused at a rack full of Easter animals. A soft smile washed his face in a compassionate glow as he gently ran his fingers along the ear of a rabbit plush. It’s fur jutted out in every direction and was dyed in a multitude of orange, red, and yellows. Tiny black eyes were barely even visible until Gaster brushed the fur out of them.

“What’s with you and bunnies?” Grillby was bright yellow as Gaster was pulled from the moment to look bashedly down. If Grillby were to guess there were at least twenty pictures on his phone of mostly blurry rabbits. Where Gaster always took a certain amount of care to what pictures he sent rabbits seemed to be the outlier. As long as even a glimpse of the bunny was in frame he kept the image and would promptly send it to Grillby.

Gaster considered Him for a moment longer then what was comfortable before he tapped his teeth together. “When I first came back,” he smiled fondly at the plush even if his eye light grew a bit soft as he stared into the past, “I was lost.”

“For some reason what I clung to was some far off foggy memory of Cinnabunnies in Snowdin, of Fluffy Bunny before bed, of puzzles with bunny prints,” he looked over to Grillby with a childish embarrassment, “they’re just home to me. I guess that’s pretty childish,” he smiled lamely.

Grillby pat the top of the bunnies head, “they helped you find home again though.” A jagged jack o lantern smile cut across his face, “so I have them to thank.”

Gaster scratched his cheekbone absentmindedly, “this one sort of reminds me-“ Grillby’s flames sputtered lamely as the monster began to make enthusiastic gestures while he spoke but none of them were actual readable signs.

“Hey,” Grillby rubbed the back of his neck, “let’s look at the books the store isn’t open for much longer.”

He knit his brows together obviously not having received the appropriate response before he silently agreed. The awkwardness ebbed away as Gaster’s eyelight skimmed book after book reading titles aloud, to a multitude of different sounding results, while Grillby pulled out any book with words he didn’t recognize along the spine to show him.

Fuku chastised Grillby for his tastes in books years before she started reading advanced materials. His tastes were so simple, so boring, hardly on the intellectual level of someone who built the Core of all things. Out of curiosity he opened one of the hefty textbooks they came across not at all surprised it made no sense to him.

Gaster peered over his shoulder, “isn’t it fascinating what medical marvels humans have been able to obtain without the use of green magic? Some of the simpler things we’d figured out in the Underground but they can now repair the most vital organ to human existence. They can even replace it in its’ entirety if they must!”

Grillby squinted down at the human on the page with all of the different organs labeled off to the side. It all just looked very messy to him. Gaster explained how the teacher friend he’d made, the one worked at the same school as Sans, had given him a long list of reading to do on the subject. He was excited to learn of a place where he could at least skim the books.

It seemed to click just then that now that he was registered he could come in here on his own time, if he felt up to it, and just read whatever he wanted. Suddenly he was much more excited as his steps grew quicker now intent on seeing everything he could before the store closed. Grillby followed happy to see the monster flitting about books like a hummingbird to flowers. As far as Grillby was aware none of the libraries in the Underground were even close to as extensive as this one tiny bookstore.

The carpeting was suddenly a soft pastel and the shelves a vibrant yellow. “Don’t you and Papyrus already own all of the Fluffy Bunny books?” Grillby teased.

“I’m actually looking for something else,” he drummed his fingers against his jaw, “what’s that book you keep on your nightstand?”

Grillby’s flames sputtered as a few sparks fell from him, “I don’t keep a book on my nightstand.”

Gaster raised his more mobile brow, “yes you do, it has the soft yellows, pinks, and blues with the little human child standing on top of a disk or something.” He grabbed a book off the shelf, “it’s this author,” he pointed to the word Seuss at the bottom of the cover.

“Oh,” Grillby chuckled, “it’s just a book Fuku liked when she was little.”

He seemed unsatisfied with the answer as if he had proof to the contrary but didn’t quite have the nerve to say it. “I skimmed it when I was over last, it seemed,” he paused, “cute.”

Grillby was grateful the monster’s sockets returned to the shelves as a dark blue streak twirled through his features. It was a dumb kid’s book. He scratched at his arm, but it was his favorite. He was terrible at reading those big thick books with the fancy words, he could do it, he just didn’t enjoy it. How was he supposed to tell the genius of a monster in front of him that he was a complete dunce? That his idea of a good read was written in rhymes where everything was so drawn out for you that there were actual pictures? 

Maybe he should grab something better while they were here, something a bit more intellectual, wordy. He’d probably be reading it for the next several months but he could just say he was really into it...right? 

He paled when the monster pulled ‘Oh, the Places You’ll Go’ off of the shelf with a smile, “it’s this one, right?”

The flame pretended for a moment not to recognize the book the second it was pulled, “uh, yeah, that’s it.”

Gaster flipped it over to check the price on it before he began to pull some of the most beat up dirty change Grillby had ever seen out of his inventory. “Gaster, where did you get that?”

The skeleton smiled meekly, “I found it.” 

“I can pay for it if you want,” he reached for the book but Gaster pushed his arm away and with a frustrated focus said- something. The few kids in the section turned their heads to discern where the peculiar sound came from while their parents immediately turned their heads to the only two monsters in the store. “It’s just going to be easier on the cashier to deal with bills then change.”

His shoulders dropped as he looked at the pile of change he’d strewn about the top of the shelf. Sharp sounds escaped him as he chastised himself for something Grillby had no clue of. “Mom? What’s that sound?” A small boy asked before their mother shushed them.

Gaster’s eyelight shrunk as he did his best not to look over to the child. “Grillby-” he started before he paused to read the air in front of him. Long thin fingers cupped over his mouth before he stiffly signed: ‘you… you can still understand me can’t you?’ 

Everything about him read desperate but Grillby didn’t have any idea what the correct response was, “sometimes when you talk it’s just,” he shrugged uncertain of how to describe the sound, “noise?”

Defeated. The way the skeleton’s form buckled, how firmly he wrapped his hand around his humeruses, there was no other way to describe it than defeated. ‘I’m sorry you had to hear that,’ he eventually signed without any light in his sockets. 

‘It doesn’t bother me,’ Grillby assured him.

Gaster put the book back on the shelf and scooped the change back into his inventory, ‘can we go home?’

All of the excitement that had been in the air was sucked out by some all powerful vacuum as he barely even waited for a response before heading back to the front of the store. “I’ll be just a minute,” he tossed him the keys a bit impressed when they were caught without so much as a glance.

Grillby leaned against the shelf heavy enough to tilt it subtly. What had he forgotten now? He picked the book off of the shelf and flipped it over a few times as he searched his mind for some sort of a hint. That was his natural voice then: his Font, if he recalled from the brothers’ explanation of their own unique voices. Why was he able to understand it until recently?

By the time Grillby returned to the truck he had more questions than answers and a sneaky suspicion he wasn’t going to be granted any today. Gaster sat with his feet in the passenger seat curled up in a ball against the window. He hadn’t been crying at least but he seemed numb which could be worse. 

He tugged open the door, “I know you’re not a big fan of gifts but,” he passed a sack to him, “you seemed so excited by it I couldn’t resist.” Gaster sighed taking the bag away from Grillby but seemed immediately confused by the weight as his guess was proved wrong. Gently he rolled the sack down a delighted smile grew across his teeth as the orange bunny from earlier looked up to him.

“Love you,” Grillby grinned thrilled to have received that beautiful smile of his.

“I-” He clamped his teeth shut and gave the plush his full attention brushing the fluff out of its’ beady black eyes. ‘It reminded me of you,’ his fingers scrunched up the fabric just to smooth it out again, ‘the colors, the tiny little eyes,’ he smiled fondly to the toy, ‘thank you.’

“You’re welcome,” he slid into the driver’s seat fully, “still want to go home?”

He nodded, his sockets still stuck on the plush.

 

* * *

 

The kitchen was set up and ready for the first customers of the day, the oven was warming up, prep work on vegetables had been completed for the day, now all that was left was for customers to show up. Grillby sat at one of the bar stools leaning heavily on his elbows that were locked against the bar as he stared into the pale glow of his phone. 

It had been almost two weeks since the bookstore. 

He scrolled through old messages in between typing and deleting a new message of his own. It was like his partner had just- vanished. No, that wasn’t fair, he still heard from Gaster but he hadn’t actually seen him since then. 

A soft ting filled the air as the door pressed open, Grillby turned, surprised to see the general manager. “I gave you the day off,” Grillby flickered. He had thrown himself into his work since last Sunday when the skeleton had decided to meet with Asgore instead of their usual date night. Gaster had mentioned being disappointed at not being able to rekindle his friendship with Asgore but the timing was frustrating.

“I just left my coat,” Justin smiled a toothy grin as he brushed his orange tipped brown hair out of his face.

Grillby dimmed, “okay.”

“Boyfriend text you yet?” 

“That’s not any of your business,” he exhaled a hot breath.

“Ah, so no,” Justin chuckled as he walked into the backroom.

It probably was a mistake working today, if Gaster did want to do something they’d have to figure out some odd interval of time to do it. He folded his arms onto the table just barely looking to the screen as he tapped a button whenever the screen started to dim. 

Maybe Gaster was done with him and just didn’t have the nerve to say it, if he even could. He should beat him to the punch, pull the plug before it was pulled on him, he started to type up a rather spiteful breakup before he deleted it. No, not until he actually got to see him again. Even then he didn’t want to.

All he wanted was to see the skeleton smiling that sun soaked smile as he snapped pictures of potentially dangerous creatures. He missed hearing him chatter over whatever had his attention in that excited tone that caused him to skip over words entirely. It felt like it had been so long since he went out of his way to make the skeleton blush that freckled gray that made his own soul feel like a burning star.

A tuft of flame leapt from his mouth as he signed his own name a strange mix between star and fire a sign, they had apparently made up ages ago when he was still too little to speak. He’d know this monster his whole life! When problems like this sprung up there was a time he knew what to do, knew what to say, and he just didn’t anymore.

This is what hurt and kept hurting about this entire situation. Gaster always blamed himself claiming Grillby not knowing any of his story was just a punishment for messing with forces he shouldn’t have, but it hurt him too! Everytime the monster looked subtly away from him as he tried and failed to hide his disappointment that something once so pure and intimate between them was gone and knowing it was his fault for not remembering stung worse than a shower of rain.

He plopped off of the stool and started pacing phone still clutched in his fist. There wasn’t a doubt in his mind that he loved Gaster even as the monster had him stomping around his own bar like some sort of a hormonal teenager. He didn’t want to give up on the relationship not when he didn’t even know if it was actually falling apart or if that was his own paranoia and codependency. 

Heat rolled off of him. They hadn’t even been truly intimate yet- heck! They hadn’t even celebrated an anniversary. It was cheesy and dumb and stupid but that’s what couples did right? His free hand ran through the whispering flames atop his head, what was wrong with him? He felt all wound up inside as if the slightest contact would send him spinning. 

His phone buzzed in his hand and he nearly tossed it in shock. He slid into a booth:  _ HAVE YOU SEEN DAD? I HAVE NOT SEEN HIM AT ALL THIS MORNING! NOPE NOT AT ALL. _

It wasn’t exactly the skeleton he was wanting to hear from but Papyrus’s messages cooled his train of thought.  _...no? _

_ OH NO. WHEREVER COULD HE BE? _

Papyrus was a hard one to interpret whether he was being genuine or not. How over the top the messages were he could have been attempting to hide something but the monster was naturally over the top.  _ hey grillbz you see dad paps seems upset or uh something _

Sans too. Grillby flickered,  _...is he alright? _

His thumbs tapped out another message:  _...where was he last… _

_...do you think he’s okay? _

The pencil that scrit out a never ending message told him Sans was responding but it wasn’t fast enough.  _ grillbz i know its hard for someone of you  _ combustion _ but you need to chill _

_...sorry… _

_ yeah that was terrible there has to be some sort of a way to pun composition off of combustion weird _

Grillby could feel the plastic of the phone softening in his grip,  _ Papyrus… do you have any idea where he is? _

_ HE HAS BEEN TALKING ABOUT THE UNDERGROUND A LOT LATELY! _

He wasn’t trying to go back was he? Grillby’s gaze fell over to the table and chairs they had shared what felt like ages ago. At that time Gaster had been a bereft customer weary and exhausted from his time on the Surface. He could almost see his folded posture in the slightly pulled out chair while Grillby sat across from him trying to figure out why those hands looked so familiar. Back then he’d talked about going back to the Underground to go home but it wasn’t until after the fact he’d learned the monster truly meant finding a way back to the void.

No. No he wouldn’t. Not now. He knew there were monsters that loved him even if they didn’t remember him. He loved him- he couldn’t do that! He couldn’t go back to that terrible place! What if he forgot him again? The hole in his soul would creep into a chasm and he wouldn’t even know it!

His fingers grazed over his mouth as he tried to remember the increasingly distant last taste of cold he’d had. Without much thought he grabbed his coat off the hook in the back and was surprised to see Justin sitting casually on his phone, “I’m sorry I know I said I’d give you the day off and I will I just need to go.”

Justin pressed his black framed glasses back into place as he looked up at his boss, “yeah I’m here already so it’s no problem. Go get your boyfriend.” Grillby paused halfway out the door before he turned to ask how Justin knew but he shrugged expecting the response, ‘only thing that would get you this worked up.’

The drive up to the mountain typically took thirty minutes, twenty five if you sped, but Grillby’s poor truck managed to make it in just under twenty minutes. He patted the hood with a soft thank you before he took off towards the mouth of the cave system.

He pulled up his phone:  _ GOOD NEWS! HE SAYS HE’S IN WATERFALL! _

Grillby took his first breath in a long while: if he was talking to the boys then Gaster wasn’t going to do anything stupid. His head span while his adrenaline lowered in eagerness leaving him a bit jittery. Still, what was he doing in Waterfall?

It had been a while since Grillby appreciated what he was but as he ran through the ruins of the Capital, through Hotland, with an effort he hadn’t displayed in years he did just that. Not every monster would be able to run a marathon after years of a complacent lifestyle. Though he did recognize he was slower then he once was. Still, it got him to the boggy air that lingered with half evaporated water at the entrance of Waterfall.

No matter how much time passed he felt he wasn’t ever going to be a fan of these damp caverns, for obvious reasons. He stoked his flames warmer in an attempt to keep the lingering garbage scent out of his clothes. 

Just as he was  prepared to call out the monster’s name his foot grazed against a cyan echo flower, “hello Grillby,” came the soft voice hidden inside. Echo flowers were supposed to be further into the tunnel system but as he traced down the stem with his eyes he recognized the stone had been dug into just enough to plant the flower.

His flames folded about each other as he walked over to the next flower, “I’m sorry it’s been so long.”

The soft petals grazed against his fingertips in a poor impression of the skeleton monster’s touch, “but I had to save this borrowed voice.”

Borrowed?

“I realized at the bookstore I wasn’t going to have a lot of time left to speak to you,” Grillby could almost see the subtle fall of the skeleton’s eyelights as he thought over his words.

“I’ve loved finally talking with you… it was a dream I had for a long time.” The blue flower marked a turn in the path that opened to a cavern Grillby wasn’t familiar with.

“An old part of me insisted you couldn’t love me without a voice.” Grillby’s chest tightened, of course he could! Of course he would! He pressed further into the cavern surprised by how dry it felt.

“But you did.” There was still that subtle difference in the him from then and the him from now but Grillby realized they could agree on one thing. “You have for a very long time.”

“That’s why-” He chuckled, “it took me a long time to decide.” The cavern up ahead was lit with a pale orange light and where he wanted nothing more then to storm ahead to the skeleton he knew was waiting he reached for the next flower instead. “If I could only say one last thing to you what would it be?”

“The choice was, stupendously simple, and, truly, there was only one answer:” The narrow walkway he was in opened up into a wide open chamber with flickers of sunlight that peeked through from the Surface. Naturally made shelves were lined with evenly placed candles that flickered in welcome of him. None of that compared to the monster he loved wearing his favorite tailcoat standing bashfully beside an orange flower.

Gaster’s long fingers grazed the top of the tall bright orange flower, “I love you.” Grillby stared numbly at the orange flower’s subtle red flecks until his gaze was brought up to the monster’s hands, ‘I love you.’ The signs were still slow, a bit uncertain and shy, but it didn’t matter. Gaster finally said it. He finally said it!

Grillby couldn’t take the distance between them any longer he stormed right up to his partner and wrapped his arms around him in a tight embrace that was deepened as he pressed his mouth to Gaster’s teeth. 

It had the lingering taste of sweetness but it lacked the flavor. It sung of warmth but whispered of shadows. It was them. It was their magic harmonizing together and filling them both with their shared strength. Grillby felt Gaster’s teeth scrape for more while Grillby’s flames brightened as they licked at the monster’s bones. Slowly his orange began to gain hues of black- no, it was an incredibly dark purple, as he pursued the sensation further. 

When at last Gaster pulled away his eyelights burned violet with deep purple tears  resting in his sockets, he threw his arms around Grillby then ran his hands along his back as he searched for something on the leather jacket to grip. He tucked his skull against the fiery monster’s shoulder. 

“Say it again,” Grillby whispered his voice full of delicate crackles. Gaster turned his head towards the flower but Grillby ran his hand along his cheekbone, “I want to hear it from your own voice.” The monster’s face deepened in color as he hid his face along the flame’s collar.

A strange grating mechanical noise vibrated in the air around them. Try as he might he couldn’t understand it but he could feel the monster’s soul against his chest, feel the pace of magic as it raced forward. Once the cave grew silent he ran his fingers against his partner’s cheek then down to his chin to encourage him to look up. 

“You were supposed to say I love you.”

For a moment he feared he’d guessed wrong, that the monster had worked up the nerve to state it properly and he was going to embarrass both of them by pretending he could make any sense of the sound. Slowly Gaster’s features flushed with that deep violet as he locked eyes with Grillby. He shifted his weight over his feet before finally a series of waterlogged garbles of noise escaped him. 

Gaster’s hands flew into the minimal space between them, ‘I’m sorry I know it sounds hideous but-’

Grillby took his glasses off as the lenses began to steam, his fingers wrapped around to the sides of his face and he shut his eyes tightly. His shoulders trembled as he fought to control himself. 

He had needed to hear it. A pain in his soul by far older than the time he had known the monster healed over in a satisfying itch. He loved him. Gaster loved him!

He was pulled from his thoughts as a feather soft touch pressed against his cheek. It was so gentle, so precise in the contact, ‘are you okay?’ His onyx hand bullets signed.

His voice fizzed out as he tried to speak, ‘I think I needed to hear that more than I thought I did.’

Gaster placed both of his hands on Grillby’s cheeks and stole a quick peck of a kiss, ‘I’m sorry it took so long.’

Grillby’s hands cupped the ones on his cheeks, “please, don’t ever do that again.”

‘Do what?’

“Just disappear like that,” he hated how needy the thoughts in his head were: attention seeking and pathetic, “I thought you were done with,” he paused dropping his hands, “us.”

‘What?’ Gaster’s eyelight shrunk, ‘no, no! I just needed time to think is all.’ He wrung his hands before he started signing again, ‘I really thought you were going to call it quits when you couldn’t talk to me anymore.’ 

‘But I took my time and I thought about it and I think the result was favorable for both of us.’ He seemed hesitant to add: ‘you always understood before.’

A rock settled into his stomach bringing with it a forgotten sensation of waiting. Just waiting. Without any knowledge as to why or for how long. He blinked, that’s why he’d been so upset: this disappearing act had drove his soul mad more times then he could remember. “I may have understood but I know I never cared for it.”

“If your having doubts I want to hear them, if you aren’t sure of your way tell me your thought process,” he rubbed the back of his neck. “Maybe before I let you run off to bury yourself in your thoughts but we’re together now. I need more than a few snapshots of your gardening adventures to know you’re okay.”

‘I just wanted to surprise you,’ he gestured lamely to the caverns, ‘I was afraid I would spoil it.’ His fingers rubbed against his sleeve as he gazed at the floor a pair of onyx bullets appeared beside him. ‘I’m sorry.’ His sleeve crumpled under his fist as he tried and failed to think of something more to say but his magic hands kept apologizing.

“Hey,” Grillby pressed his fingers between Gaster’s to spare the fabric, “this was a wonderful surprise, I can’t even imagine how much effort this took to set up.” His glow softened as Gaster looked up to him, “I’ve never seen an orange echo flower before.”

Just like that the monster’s face lit up brighter than any of the candles around the room, ‘it’s actually not an echo flower,’ he pulled his hands away to sign his excitement. ‘I call it a parrot flower, though Asgore insists that name is taken.’

‘Anyways, since coming to the surface Asgore has become quite the magical botanist, though he doesn’t seem to recognize how much of his work is actual science. So I asked him-’ There it was, that spark in his sockets as he rambled right on over Grillby’s head. He watched the hands intently trying to piece together what he could but taking a bit too much delight in the skeleton’s excited magic.

‘It only records one message though,’ his fingers grazed the top of the flower: “I love you.” He pressed his fingers together briefly, ‘so you can hear me say it whenever you need to hear it.’ The way his smile dropped was just barely noticeable, ‘because:’ He held up his pinky, then crossed his arms over his chest, before he gestured to Grillby, ‘just doesn’t sound-’ he was cut off when Grillby filled his arms.

Barely a breath apart from each other Grillby whispered: “I love you too.” His arms wrapped effortlessly around his partner’s ribs as he pressed himself as close as he could get. “I love you so much.”

Gaster squeezed him back the gesture stated clearly without moving his hands at all: ‘me too.’ Grillby held Gaster against him longer than was necessary as if the moment they pulled away he would forget what it felt like to hold him.

Once there was finally enough space between them Gaster signed close to his chest, ‘Happy six months.’

Grillby’s flames twisted in curiosity, they’d only been official since December but six months would be- He sparked as the image of the monster puckering at a deep fried pickle came to mind. His soul fluttered remembering the first time he saw that smile, so genuine and pure it made the sun jealous. That was when they shared their first kiss with the wonderful background of a metal dumpster behind them. Gaster still thought that was when they started dating then.

‘I have one more surprise for the occasion,’ he signed giddily.

“As curious as I am, I need to get back to work-” He paused abruptly when Gaster carefully laid his fingers over his teeth to mask a child like giggle.

‘Justin was actually in on this.’

Grillby puffed a ball of hot air to the side, “I’m cutting his pay.” 

Gaster placed his head against Grillby’s shoulder as he laughed. ‘He said he would help as long as you didn’t act like a kicked puppy anymore.’

His flames hesitated through several shades of yellow, “I guess I should have told you it was bothering me.” He shrugged, “looks like I’m free then.”

A blush crept into his cheekbones, ‘no. You’re taken.’ Grillby crackled pleasantly as he pulled the fire off the candles in the room then allowed himself to be lead through the drippy Waterfall caverns down a tiny narrow walkway that forced them to drop hands to squeeze through. When at last they pressed themselves to the light they were outside in a wide clearing.

The flame forgot to breath as he was met with a rush of pure greens and the endless blue of the sky. He didn’t think it looked nearly this beautiful when he first came to the surface. They walked side by side, hand in hand, across the top of the hill taking in the beautiful purple clovers that dared to defy the endless sea of green. The scent of fresh dirt and flora rolled up from the hill below and danced around the pair.

“How did you find this place Gaster?” He uncoiled his fingers to attempt to grasp the breeze, “it’s-” His words were cut off as his form grew heavy, a ping was heard before he was pulled towards the hillside. A dark figure fell atop him and they quickly became a mess of limbs as they tumbled down the hill.

At first Grillby was fearful the fragile skeleton would break as they bounced against the earth but the monster laughed like he hadn’t ever heard before: giddy, excited, childish, and free as they rolled down the hill. It was positively infectious, even if none of the sounds made sense, he found himself crackling like a bonfire alongside him until they finally came to a stop with Gaster laying atop him.

He crackled devilishly as he flipped the monster below him to nuzzle against his skull. The monster squirmed as his Font issued a series of grievances that Grillby failed to understand so opted not to cease his pestering. When at last he pulled away he could feel the stutter in the rise and fall of Gaster’s ribcage as his breathing attempted to regulate.

Grillby lowered himself to kiss the monster’s neck when a pair of onyx hand bullets cut him off, ‘wait.’ He scrutinized the bullets surprised to find tiny white cracks across the black making them look more like marble than onyx. Had they always looked like that?

His thoughts were quickly cut off as he felt Gaster’s hand move gently along the side of his thigh. Orange flames melted into softer tones: was Gaster actually- carefully he dared a glance to see Gaster retrieving his phone from his pocket before passing it off to a set of hand bullets. 

Of course Gaster wasn’t thinking like that, a puff of smoke escaped him as his flames burned hot pink, what had he been thinking? He covered his cheeks as he rolled onto his side to lay beside Gaster who seemed blissfully unaware of the situation as he turned his phone to face Grillby. 

The image was of a gray rabbit with black tipped ears, ‘it’s the wrong season for this type of coat! I haven’t seen one-’ His hands started moving so feverishly they were difficult to read, especially from the angle he was at now, but his own mind wandering didn’t help either.

This was childish right? Dumb? But the more he played the word over and over in his head the more he liked the idea. The word almost had a taste as he crackled: “Bun.”

Gaster paused abruptly with a quiet, ‘what?’ from his hands.

His flames brightened as he scooched as close as he could to the monster, “my bun,” the smile cut harsh against his features as his cheeks felt as if they were puckering, “you’re so clever bun, ” he kissed the side of the monster’s skull lightly, “you look a little gloomy today bun,” his voice was more crackles than words as he whispered: “my love bun.”

His body rippled with a plethora of crackles, pops, and sparks as he tried to contain his giddiness. This was so stupid. So cheesy and dumb and all of that couple-y nonsense he’d wanted. It was like a code name from those adventure books shared just between them.  _ How are you doing bun? Anything you want to eat bun? I love you bun.  _

There was an indistinct noise that hummed past Gaster’s sealed teeth that Grillby couldn’t tell if it was of dissatisfaction or thought. His eyelight moved lazily with the clouds as he stared into the blue above. Grillby found himself lost in the sky, it was so vast, so consuming, he wrapped his fingers around Gaster’s which happily parted to receive them.  ‘I assume you aren’t talking about the rabbit?’

Grillby hid his face and shook his head.

A pair of hand bullets materialized lazily beside him, ‘So is this one of those,’ he searched for the word, ‘pet names?’ When Grillby nodded Gaster remained silent for a while as he thought, ‘alright. I’ll be your bun,’ he smiled, ‘but I’m going to come up with something equally terrible for you.’

“I can’t wait.”

Gaster scooched against the bend of Grillby’s shoulder to cradle his head as he looked up into the sky. Grillby asked him to describe what he saw in the cloud shapes. Several different species of monsters, a few animals, and of course a rabbit or two were mentioned. All pointed out and traced by his thin fingers. No matter how hard Grillby squinted he couldn’t see anything but puffy white swabs of cotton in the blue. Just before he grew frustrated with his inability Gaster changed the subject to the different types of clouds then again to how they made rain. 

‘I still can’t believe monsters made it up here,’ he rested his hands atop his chest as he stared up into the endless sky.

Grillby rubbed his cheek against the monster’s skull like an attention seeking cat, “you deserve the sky.”

Gaster looked up to him with some counter-argument already formed before his eye light rounded, ‘you do too.’

They watched as the world moved past them completely ignorant of the couple on its’ surface. There in that field it was just them and Grillby was content to believe for a while that’s all it had to be. He focused on the rise and fall of his partner’s ribs against him until the sky began to tint with a light show that had his flames outmatched.

“Hey,” Grillby’s voice was hoarse from lack of use, “we should head back soon.”

Gaster didn’t so much as budge at the suggestion. There wasn’t an ounce of stress in the meager form as he breathed softly against the whispering flames slumbering so peacefully in the open field. Gaster trusted him enough to fall asleep against him, loved him enough to say that he did, “alright,” Grillby whispered as he pressed a kiss to the top of his skull, “just a few more minutes.”   
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> I never know what the reception to these are going to get but I love writing them!
> 
> Gaster actually had a lot of help from Sans and Papyrus setting this whole thing up. I wish I got to show how supportive they are of the relationship as well but writing one of these every four-ish months means a lot of stuff gets skipped.
> 
> Such as: the conversation following this of Grillby asking why at one point he could understand Gaster at all of his Font wasn’t understandable. Basically my thought is that all Gaster’s fall into the same Void where they are eventually “shattered across time and space” when they start picking up their pieces sometimes they end up with the wrong ones. Gaster is incredibly grateful to the version of himself that lent him a voice for so long. His Font was one of the multitude of reasons he was so opposed to the idea of dating Grillby before.


End file.
